Jesus Rise to Power: Martyr Facts

Of the 76 emperors who ruled from Augustus to
Constantine, just 19 died of natural causes. The majority were murdered (42), 2
more were probably murdered, 6 were forced to commit suicide and 7 were killed
in battle.

Scholars don’t know why Perpetua, one of the
most important martyrs in the history of Christianity, was arrested.

Perpetua’s
father begged her to reconsider and even brought her baby to the tribunal in an
attempt to convince her to save herself.

Emperor Decius ordered everyone to sacrifice and
they were given a receipt to prove they’d done it. Many Christians refused: some
ran away and some got others to sacrifice in their place.

Early Christians were mistaken for cannibals by
some Romans, who misunderstood the sacrament of Eucharist where under the
appearances of bread and wine, Christians eat the body and blood of Christ.

There were many more gospels than the 4 that we
find in today’s New Testament. Bishop Iranaeus of Lyon was one of the first to
suggest that Christians use just four.

In
Roman culture, sacrifice was transactional: it meant giving a gift to the gods
in hopes of gaining favor or forgiveness. Christians, though, believed Jesus already
gave his life for the eternal forgiveness of our sins.

Trajan’s Column was built by Emperor Trajan to tell the
story of a victorious military campaign in Dacia, modern-day Romania.